December 9, 2008
By Allen Madding
John Edward “Ward” Burton III was born October 25, 1961, the oldest of three brothers. Ward began racing go-karts in 1973 near Scottsburg, VA. At the age of eight Ward won the first event he raced. By 1975, all three of the brothers, Ward, Brian, and Jeff were carrying home trophies from go-kart competition. Ward continued to race on the Virginia Karting Association circuit until the age of 16.
Ward’s stock car racing career began competing in the mini-stock division and then moved up to the Street Stocks division at South Boston Speedway in 1985. Burton made his Winston Racing Series Late Model Stock Car division debut at South Boston Speedway in 1986. In 1989, He had begun competing in the newly formed Speedway Sportsman Division at Charlotte Motor Speedway and he won three feature events at South Boston and was voted Most Popular Driver.
In 1990, he was behind the wheel of the No. 9 Texas Pete Chevrolet Lumina in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series. He finished his rookie year in the Busch Series with three top ten finishes and runner up in the Rookie of the Year competition to his brother Jeff.
In 1992, he scored his first win in the Busch Series at Rockingham. In 1993, he won three more Busch events: Martinsville, Orange County, FL, and Atlanta.
In 1994, Ward began double duty continuing to compete in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series and in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series driving the No. 31 Hardee’s sponsored car. He set on the pole for the Mello Yello 500 at Charlotte and finished second at Pocono. After 26 starts in the Cup Series, Ward had one top five, two top tens and a pole to his credit.
In 1995, Ward joined Bill Davis Racing for the last nine races of the season and he scored his first NASCAR Winston Cup Series win at Rockingham. He closed the season with one win, three top fives, and six top tens.
In 2000, Burton scored a win in the Mall 400 at Darlington. In 2001, Burton scored a win at Darlington. In 2002, Burton won twice: The Daytona 500 from the pole and the New England 300 at New Hampshire. For the year, he had one pole, two wins, three top fives, and eight top tens. Also in 2002, Ward established the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation to make the public aware of the need for sound management practices for wildlife habitat.
In 2003, Burton began the season behind the wheel of Bill Davis’ No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge. Burton left Bill Davis Racing to join driving the No. 0 NetZero car for Haas CNC Racing for the final four races of the season. "Circumstances present themselves that you don't have control over and this is one of those circumstances," Burton said. "Sometimes, it's time to move on and that's where I am today.” "When a little bird gets chased out of the nest, the bird's got two choices," Burton said. "He's going to fall to the ground or he's going to learn to fly. Now I've got my wings and I've got my new opportunity, and I'm excited about it." In 36 starts in the Cup Series, Burton recorded four top ten finishes.
In 2004, Burton recorded 34 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series starts and three top ten finishes. He was released by Haas CNC Racing at the end of the season.
Burton sat out the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and concentrated his time and efforts on his family and the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation, an organization promoting the conservation of America’s land and wildlife.
In 2006, Burton returned to NASCAR Nextel Cup Series competition for three events driving Larry McClure’s No. 4 Lucas Oil Chevrolet at Martinsville, Texas, and Phoenix failing to record a top twenty finish.
McClure provided Burton the opportunity to drive the No. 4 State Water Heaters Chevrolet in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series in 2007. But Burton was plagued with mechanical failures and crashes, in the 16 starts he had eight DNFs. Burton also wheeled Clarence Wheeler’s No. 27 Ford in the NASCAR Busch Series. Burton made 16 starts and recorded an eighth place finish in the Aaron’s 312 at Talladega.
In 13 years of NASCAR Cup Series competition, Ward Burton amassed 375 starts, seven poles, five wins, 24 top fives, and 82 top tens. In ten years of Busch Series competition, he charted 161 starts, seven poles, 4 wins, 23 top fives, and 50 top tens.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
You can contact Allen Madding at ..
